A man from Jamaica, Queens, has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the brutal 2022 stabbing murders of his girlfriend, her son, and her cousin, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on May 2.
A 2022 report from the Jamaica Observer stated that all the deceased were Jamaican or of Jamaican descent.
Travis Blake, 31, was convicted last month of first-degree murder and other charges in the slayings of 55-year-old Karlene Barnett, her 36-year-old son Dervon Brightly, and 22-year-old Vashawna Malcolm—a nursing student visiting from Jamaica. Their decomposing bodies were found inside their 155th Street home, bearing signs of extreme violence, including stab wounds and blunt force trauma.
“Travis Blake viciously murdered his girlfriend, her son and a visiting cousin with knives, hammers, and a screwdriver, and then fled New York to avoid capture,” DA Katz said in a statement.
“There are no words to describe the trauma and lifelong sorrow this defendant has caused for the family of Karlene Barnett, Dervon Brightly and Vashawna Malcolm. This defendant deserves every day of his sentence, and we stand with the victims’ family as they continue to mourn this overwhelming loss.”
Justice Ushir Pandit-Durant imposed a life sentence without parole on the top count, plus an additional 75 years to life for second-degree murder charges, to be served consecutively.
According to trial testimony, Barnett and Blake were in a relationship and lived together with her sons and niece. On June 24, 2022, police responded to the home after a relative reported a foul odor and found Malcolm’s body bound and partially unclothed in an upstairs bedroom. Barnett and Brightly were discovered behind a locked basement door—Barnett stabbed multiple times and Brightly killed with a screwdriver and hammer.
Surveillance footage showed Blake entering and leaving the home multiple times between June 22 and 24. After Brightly was seen entering the house on June 22, Blake was captured exiting shirtless and with a bandaged hand. Barnett was last seen alive entering the house later that evening.
Investigators found a bloodied screwdriver beside Brightly, with a broken bit that was later removed from his neck during autopsy. Other evidence included a hammer, mop, duct tape, and blood-stained cleaning products. Blake’s DNA and fingerprints were found on several items at the scene, and phone records showed he had researched states with the death penalty shortly after the killings.
Blake fled the state and was arrested weeks later in Maine before being extradited to New York.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Jonathan Selkowe and Ashley Clement under the supervision of Homicide Bureau Chief John Kosinski and Major Crimes Executive ADA Shawn Clark.
